Never Doubt
by Arcane Jill
Summary: A little bit of S/B fluff for Valentine's Day. Set after "Older and Far Away." (PG, mild language)


Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine -- I'm just playing with Joss's toys.  
Spoilers: Takes place after "Older and Far Away," season 6, episode 14.  
Feedback: Always welcome.  
Summary: It's Valentine's Day in Sunnydale. What do you get for your not-girlfriend?   
Rating: PG (mild language)  
  
Never Doubt  
  
He had faced a thousand demons, been master of a vampire order, and conquered death for more than a century. But this was an entirely new form of torture, he thought. More painful than holy water, more dangerous than the sun.  
  
Spike's eyes flickered over the Hallmark display, and he cursed under his breath, a fluent stream of British invective. This was all wrong. He was a sodding creature of evil, not a boyfriend.  
  
She'd made that so abundantly clear, over and over. What were her exact words? She was insane to think he could spend time with her friends? That stung -- not that he'd ever admit it. He'd ceded that she was insane, but standing here deliberating over which sappy pink and white valentine card to nick for her was starting to make him question his own mental health.  
  
Didn't anyone make a card that said, "I know you hate me, but..." But it wasn't altogether true, now, was it? He could still see her teasing smile when Buffy accused him of being jealous. She didn't hate him. And whatever she felt, she liked that he was in love with her. How about a card that said, "I love you even though you regularly kick my ass?"  
  
But now, he could hit right back. Those were the best moments -- when it was all fists and fangs, just the dance of slayer and vampire, pure and simple. None of this guilt for wanting to be with her, trying to behave like a good little neutered vampire for her, and failing.  
  
It was easier when he'd been with Dru. Both vampires, nice and normal, out every night wreaking bloody havoc on the world that the slayer was protecting. Dru wouldn't have looked twice at the pansy valentine cards. She'd have simply brought the shopgirl home. Spike glanced over at the register, and the teenager behind the counter reminded him suddenly of Dawn. Hell, he thought, I have to get her a card too. Then he closed his eyes and wondered when he'd become so damn domesticated.  
  
Finding Dawn's card was easy. One of the funny cards, with a cartoon on the front and a sarcastic comment on the inside. It'd make her laugh, her eyes crinkling up like his own little sister's used to. He could see a display of chocolate roses by the register -- that and the card would do for Dawn. But her sister was an entirely different story.   
  
All the cards were either very sweet or very stupid, and Buffy was neither. He thought he'd picked through the entire display when finally one in the corner caught his eye. He looked at the front, then flicked it open. He smiled. Perfect.  
  
As he stepped out of the store, it was like a great weight lifted off his undead shoulders, even though he'd actually paid for the cards and Dawn's chocolate rose. She was turning him into as much of a poof as his sire was. Then it occurred to him that he needed to buy Buffy a present, too. The weight came crashing back down as he stared at the cheerful mall storefronts surrounding him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The back doorbell rang, which it never, ever did. Buffy looked up from the TV, surprised, then slowly made her way through the living room into the kitchen. Who would ring the back doorbell? The only person who ever used the back door was Spike, and the day he'd ring the doorbell was the day hell'd freeze over. Besides, it was the middle of the afternoon -- not that daylight ever stopped that particular vampire. And it was Valentine's Day, and she knew that there wasn't a chance she'd see hide or platinum hair of Spike on Valentine's Day. That would mean that there was... a reason to see him on Valentine's Day.  
  
Dawn bounded down the stairs and almost right into her. "Who's here?" she asked.  
  
"Beats me. You expecting anyone?" Dawn shook her head. "Me neither."   
  
Buffy pulled the door open to greet empty air. "Hello?" she called. Nothing.  
  
"Uh, Buffy?" Dawn pointed at the doormat. Buffy knelt down and examined the objects lying there.  
  
"This is for you," she said, handing Dawn an envelope and a long-stemmed chocolate rose. Dawn tore open the card as Buffy carefully picked up the small silver-wrapped box and the envelope with her name on it in an old-fashioned script.  
  
Dawn giggled at her card as Buffy opened hers. The front had a single red rose on it, and the inside was blank except for a few lines, written in the same old-fashioned handwriting.   
  
"Doubt thou the stars are fire  
Doubt that the sun doth move  
Doubt truth to be a liar  
But never doubt I love."  
  
There was no name signed -- there didn't need to be. Buffy glanced up at the backyard drenched in afternoon sun, and wondered where he had disappeared to. She guessed she'd been right about not seeing him today.   
  
Dawn peered over her shoulder at the card. "That's Hamlet," she said, surprise in her voice. "We're reading it in English. That's part of Hamlet's letter to Ophelia, when he knows her family doesn't want him to be with her."  
  
Buffy smiled.   
  
Dawn looked from the card to her sister's face. "They're both from Spike, aren't they? I could tell from what he wrote in mine." Buffy didn't answer. "God! He's so sweet, and you're so mean to him. What's in the box?"  
  
Buffy looked down at the small wrapped box, and had a sudden image of something covered in blood in a fancy velvet box. She shuddered. Dawn poked her, making the impatient teenager face, and Buffy tore open the paper.  
  
It was a fancy velvet box, and she was suddenly very, very afraid. But she opened the box anyway. Inside was a small gold charm shaped like the sun, hanging from a thin gold chain. "Wow," Dawn said. "That's so pretty."  
  
Buffy examined the chain -- it was made up of tiny delicate links, wound together to make a strong chain. "Yeah." She smiled again. She couldn't help it.  
  
Dawn took the box from her, pulling the chain out and fastening it around her sister's neck. "So, aren't you going to go find him?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, duh, you know he's just standing in a shadow out there somewhere, watching our reactions." Dawn squinted out at the sunshine and waved. "And you know you want to. Come on, you think I don't know you've been hanging out with him? You always smell like cigarettes." Buffy felt her face get red. "God, you're such a weirdo! You think I care? I like him, remember? Now, just go before he leaves." Dawn shoved her forward, out the door, and closed it behind her.   
  
Buffy stood on the back porch, looking out at the backyard, feeling like an idiot. "Uh. Hello?" No answer. "Are you there?" Nothing. "Spike, if you're here, get out where I can see you."  
  
"You're welcome." His voice was a breath in her ear. How did he get behind her?  
  
She turned to face him, and was surprised by the look of affection in his eyes. "Thank you. It's really lovely," she said. "Now why didn't you just bring the presents over like a normal person?"  
  
"Vampire, pet. You keep forgetting." But he smiled, and when he smiled he didn't look so much like the big bad vampire as he looked like a nice normal boyfriend. Scratch that, not nice or normal, more of a strange but sweet boyfriend who made her legs turn to silly putty when he smiled at her like that. She leaned forward, not particularly caring that Dawn was probably watching through the back door, and kissed him.  
  
  
  
~fin~ 


End file.
